After completing my second cookbook, (shameless plug: don't forget to pre-order my Banh Mi cookbook), I've been professing my love for the Vietnamese sandwiches to whomever I meet on Twitter. Last weekend, I came across the most wonderful idea from a Texan food & wine festival through Chef David Bull from Austin: Banh Mi Tacos. In my second cookbook, I kept everything fairly traditional by sticking to straight, authentic recipes for the Vietnamese baguette, đồ chua (pickled carrots and daikon) and Vietnamese-style meat. But what I love most is the way we can get inspired from a certain type of cuisine and come up with new, creative dishes.

This fish taco dish is healthy, flavorful and easy to make. I cooked cod fillets en papillote, which just means that I wrapped the fish in paper and baked it in the oven. The pocket created by the parchment paper acts as a steam chamber and let the fish infuse with whatever ingredients you place inside. For this recipe I flavored the fish with garlic, ginger, fresh kumquat and creeping red thyme. I assembled the tacos with a slightly adapted version of yesterday’s creamy coleslaw recipe and some sweet preserved kumquats.

This is the meal that Chef Doreen described to me by email, except Doreen used red snapper. Everyone loved it, and I'll definitely be making this again over the summer. It’s really a perfect recipe for picnics because you can cook everything ahead of time and assemble right before eating. The cod turned out great, but really any flaky fish will work.

If you want to serve veggie tacos at the same time, check out my soy chorizo version.

Here's a healthy and tasty version of the usually greasy fast food fare. My husband loves Mexican food, so I make this for him whenever he has a craving for it. The great thing about learning this recipe is that you can reuse the filling in many other recipes - burritos, enchiladas, soft tacos, nachos, etc. - by just adding / exchanging a few ingredients.

If you're serving them for a couple of people, you can definitely assemble them before plating. But if it's for a party, just prepare each part separately and let you guests put them together as they like. It'll save you time, and everyone will get their tacos exactly the way they like them.